JPS61132367A - Ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a ribbon to be back-tensioned through a simple construction, by providing a member for pressing an end side of a payout-side winding core toward the other end side and a member for receiving and braking the other end side of the winding core thus pressed. CONSTITUTION:At a payout side containing part 52 are provided the pressing member which presses the one end side of the payout-side winding core 17 toward the other end side, for example, a curved annular sheet form spring 64, and the brake member 65 which receives and brakes the other end wide of the core 17. By this, a thermal transfer ribbon 16 can be constantly back- tensioned through a simple construction. Accordingly, the ribbon 16 can be prevented from being wrinkled, and sticking of the ribbon with a paper to each other can be prevented from occurring.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette used in, for example, a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus applied to output recording of a computer or a word processor.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as one of the non-impact printing techniques, a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus has been developed and put into practical use.

Typically, this type of image forming apparatus operates the thermal head with paper and a thermal transfer ribbon interposed between the platen and the thermal head, thereby transferring ink from the thermal transfer ribbon onto the paper to form an image. It looks like this.

However, in the past, the thermal transfer ribbon was attached to the main body of the device by placing the unused thermal transfer ribbon around the unused thermal transfer ribbon at the back, and then the used thermal transfer ribbon that had been unwound from the unused thermal transfer ribbon. Since the cores on the take-up side are each set on the front side, not only are wrinkles likely to occur in the thermal transfer ribbon, but the operability is poor, and there are cases where proper setting is not performed.

Recently, in order to solve the above problem, a cassette in which a thermal transfer ribbon is housed in a case together with a winding core on a feeding side and a winding side has been developed and put into practical use.

By the way, the above-mentioned feeding and winding of the ribbon is performed by driving the winding core on the winding side, but in this case, there is a problem that wrinkles will occur in the ribbon unless back tension is applied to the ribbon.

Therefore, in the past, when a cassette was installed, a brake means that engaged with the winding core on the feeding side was provided on the main body of the device to apply a brake on the winding core on the feeding side, but the structure became complicated and large. There is a problem.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was made based on the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a ribbon cassette with a simple structure that allows pack tension to be applied to the ribbon.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a ribbon, a feeding-side winding core for feeding out the ribbon, and a winding-side winding core for winding the ribbon fed from the feeding-side winding core in a case. It is an integrated ribbon cassette, with the above case,
A pressing member for pressing one end of the feeding-side winding core toward the other end, and a brake member for applying a brake upon receiving the other end of the feeding-side winding core pressed by the pressing member. It is characterized by:

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

2 and 3 show a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus to which a ribbon cassette according to the present invention is applied, and 1 in the figures is a main body. The main body 1 has a power supply section 2 at the rear,
The front part, that is, the operation surface side is the image forming part 3.

The power source section 2 and the pulse motor 4 provided on the front side thereof are assembled on a main body base 6 to which support legs 5... are attached.

The image forming section 3 includes a conductive platen roller 7 provided approximately in the center of the front part of the main body 1, and a heat generating section (not shown) located below the platen roller 7 along the axial direction of the platen roller 7. A thermal head (recording head) 8 having a line head shape is provided. This thermal head 8 is mounted on a head mounting base 9,
This head mounting base 9 is mounted on a leaf spring 11 whose one end is held by a holder 10, and
The lower surface of the free end side is elastically supported by a coil spring 14 attached to the plunger 13 of the solenoid 12. The excitation/demagnetization operation of the solenoid 12 causes the thermal head 8 to be pressed against the platen roller 7 with a pressure suitable for thermal transfer or to be separated from the platen roller 7 by a predetermined distance.

Further, a cassette holder 15 is provided in the main body 1, and the cassette holder 15 includes a ribbon cassette 19 that stores the thermal transfer ribbon 16 and cores 17 and 18 on the feeding side and the winding side around which both ends of the ribbon are wound. It is installed. and,
The thermal transfer ribbon 16 is fed out from the feeding-side winding core 17, wound around the first and second ribbon guides 20.21 in sequence, guided between the platen roller 7 and the thermal head 8, and guided between the platen roller 7 and the thermal head 8. The second ribbon guide 20.21 and the third ribbon guide 22 wrap the ribbon around the platen roller 7. The ribbon is then folded back so as to be rapidly separated from the platen roller 7 via the third ribbon guide 22 (in other words, it is peeled off from the platen roller 7), and then wound onto the winding-side winding core 18.

Further, a paper mounting section 23 is provided above the power supply section 4, and a roll-shaped paper p wound around a winding core 24 is mounted thereon. Then, the paper p fed out from this mounting section 23
is wound around the paper guide 25 and guided between the platen roller 7 and the thermal transfer ribbon 16, and is also wound tightly around the platen roller 7 via a pair of presser rollers 26, 26. It has become.

Further, a ribbon detector 27 consisting of a light emitting element and a light receiving element is provided between the first and second ribbon guides 20 and 21, and a ribbon detector 27 is provided between the paper guide 25 and the upstream presser roller 26. A paper detector 28 consisting of a static eliminating brush (not shown) and a light emitting element and a light receiving element is provided.

In addition, a display panel 29 is provided on the upper front part of the main body 1, and this display panel 29 includes a power display section 30, a paper supply display section 31, a ribbon replacement display section 32, and other display sections 33.
is provided.

In addition, 34 is a connector, 35 is a flexible cable,
36 is a knob for manually operating the platen roller 7.

This device is connected to an external device such as an external computer or a word processor, and operates in response to a recording command from the external device to record on the paper p. That is, in response to the recording command, the paper p and the thermal transfer ribbon 16 that are in close contact with each other are sent in the same direction, and the thermal recording by the thermal head 8 is started. Then, the ink on the thermal transfer ribbon 16 is heated and melted by the thermal head 8 and transferred onto the paper p, thereby recording predetermined information on the paper p.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the main body 1 is divided into three parts: a lower cover 37, an upper rear cover 38, and an upper front cover 39. The forming portion 3 is divided into two parts and supported by a lower frame 4o and an upper frame 41. And with this,
A lower unit 42 and an upper unit 44 that can be freely opened and closed with respect to the lower unit 42 about a pivot shaft 43 located approximately in the center of the main body 1 are configured. The upper unit 44 includes a platen roller 7, a paper guide 25, a presser roller 26, 26, a paper detector 28, an operation panel 29, and the like.

The lower unit 43 also incorporates a thermal head 8, a solenoid 12, ribbon guides 20, 21, 22, and the like.

Further, the upper unit 44 is always rotated upwardly by a push-up support mechanism 45 made of a torsion spring, and when the upper unit 44 is in the open state, the cassette holder 15
is positioned and exposed in the space between the upper unit 44 and the lower unit 42. That is, the cassette holder 15 is rotatably supported by a pivot shaft 46 on the rotation fulcrum side of the upper frame 41 provided in the upper unit 44, and the downward rotation range is not shown. The upper unit 44 is restricted by a stopper so that the upper unit 44 can only rotate by approximately 1/2 of the full opening angle. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
By opening the ribbon cassette 19, the ribbon cassette 19 can be attached to and removed from the cassette holder 15.

Further, the free end side of the upper unit 44 is usually fixed to the lower unit 42 by a locking mechanism 47, so that the upper unit 44 is prevented from being opened inadvertently by some external force. That is, a hook 48 is rotatably attached to the frontmost portion of the lower frame 40 via a pivot shaft 49, and is rotatably biased by a spring (not shown). Further, a hook hanging bar 50 is provided on the free end side of the upper frame 41. Then, when the upper unit 44 is pushed down against the push-up blade of the push-up support mechanism 45, the hook 4
8 is hooked to a hook hanging bar 50 to hold the upper unit 44 in a closed state. Also, by rotating the hook 48 in the opposite direction, the hook 48 can be rotated in the opposite direction.
8 is removed from the hook retaining bar 50, and the upper unit 44 is automatically opened by the push-up blade of the push-up support mechanism 45.

Next, the ribbon cassette 19 will be explained. First, as shown in FIG. 6, the case 51 includes a feeding-side housing section 52 that accommodates the feeding-side winding core 17, a winding-side housing section 53 that houses the winding-side winding core 18, and a winding-side housing section 53 that houses the winding-side winding core 18. Accommodation part 52
and a pair of supporting side plates 54 and 54 that connect both ends of each of the winding side housing section 53 and forming a ribbon exposure space between the feeding side housing section 52 and the winding side housing section 53. It is integrally constructed. Further, the feeding side storage section 52 and the winding side storage section 53 are each divided into two parts along the axial direction, and after storing the bare winding side winding core 17 and the winding side winding core 18 respectively, one of the divided parts The bottles 55 protruding from the holes 56 and the holes 56 formed in the other side are fitted together to form the bottles 55.
It is assembled by welding... Also,
The pair of supporting side plates 54, 54 each have a protruding strip 57.
is provided to protrude outward and along the take-up side accommodating portion 53 from the feeding side accommodating portion 52 . Furthermore, the ribbon 16
When set in the case 51, the cores 17 and 18 are wound in an S-shape so that the middle part intersects the line connecting the centers of the winding cores 17 and 18 on the feeding side and the winding side. It is in good working condition.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the winding-side winding core 18 has a gear portion 58 integrated at one end thereof. That is, the winding-side winding core 18 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a notched groove 59 is formed at one end thereof. On the other hand, the gear part 58 is
A gear 60, a 7-flange 61 fixed to one end of the gear 60, and a fitting portion (not shown) that protrudes from the side opposite to the gear 60 of the flange 61 and fits into the end of the winding core 18 on the winding side. , the notch groove 59 is fixedly provided on the outer periphery of this fitting part.
and an engaging convex portion 62 that engages with. and,
The fitting portion of the gear portion 58 is fitted into the end portion of the winding-side winding core 18 in a state in which the engagement convex portion 62 of the gear portion 58 is engaged with the notch groove 59 . The seven flange 61 of the gear portion 58 is located within the take-up side housing part 53, and the gear 60 is housed in a state protruding from the wind-up side housing part 53 through the through hole 63.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the feeding-side storage portion 52 is provided with, for example, a warped thin plate annular spring (pressing member) that presses one end of the feeding-side winding core 17 toward the other end. )
64 and the feeding-side winding core 17 pressed by this spring 64
A brake member 65 is provided to receive the other end and apply a brake.

Next, the cassette holder 15 will be explained.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, this cassette holder 15 has a bottom plate 6 that supports the bottom surface of the ribbon cassette 19.
6, a receiving plate 67 that receives the frontmost part of the ribbon cassette 19, that is, the side of the feeding-side accommodating part 52, and guide side plates 68 and 68 that guide both sides of the ribbon cassette 19. A window 69 is formed in the bottom plate 66 corresponding to the ribbon exposure space of the ribbon cassette 19, and the thermal transfer ribbon 16 in the ribbon cassette 19 is sandwiched between the thermal head 8 and the platen 7 through this window 69. .

Further, the convex strips 57, 57 of the ribbon cassette 19 are attached to the bottom plate 66 on the inside of each of the guide side plates 68, 68.
Guide rails 70 and 70 are attached between the guide rails 70 and 70 to be slidably guided.
A leaf spring 71 that presses the side of the ribbon cassette 19 is attached along the guide rail 70 . That is, this leaf spring 71 is fixed to the guide rail 70 at a part on the side opposite to the receiving plate 67, and the ribbon cassette 1 is fixed on the receiving plate 67 side.
9 is pressed against one side. Furthermore, a long hole 72 is formed in the guide rail 70 to allow the non-fixed portion of the leaf spring 71 to escape. However, ribbon cassette 19
is inserted into the cassette holder 15 from the feeding-side accommodating portion 52 side in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, and is held so that it can be handled and inserted.

Moreover, when the cassette holder 15 configured in this way is closed, the stopper 7 provided on the lower frame 40 is closed, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.
3.73, the bottom plate 66 is stopped, and positioning is thereby performed.

The platen roller 7 is rotated in forward and reverse directions by the pulse motor 4, thereby feeding and reciprocating the paper p.

Further, the winding-side winding core 18 is also driven by the pulse motor 4. That is, when the ribbon cassette 19 is attached, the gear 60 integrated with the winding core 18 is connected to the drive gear 74 provided in the upper unit 44 and the ribbon stop gear 75 provided in the lower unit 43. They are designed to mesh (see Figure 3). The driving force from the pulse motor 4 is transmitted to the drive gear 74 via a one-way clutch (not shown), and the ribbon stop gear 75 rotates in only one direction. Therefore, even if the pulse motor 4 rotates forward or backward, the take-up core 18 is rotated only in a fixed direction, and even if the paper ρ is fed backwards, the thermal transfer ribbon 16 is not fed backwards.

Further, the thermal transfer ribbon 16 has a width approximately equal to the width of the paper p, and has yellow, magenta, cyan, and black ink portions of a predetermined length sequentially overlapping each other. After transferring the colors one by one, the paper p is returned to its original position and moved back and forth by the number of colors, thereby accurately overlapping one after another.

According to the above configuration, when the upper unit 44 is opened, the cassette holder 15 is exposed, and when the ribbon cassette 19 is inserted into the cassette holder 15 and the upper unit 44 is closed, the thermal transfer ribbon 16 is set in a predetermined position. The thermal transfer ribbon 16 can be easily attached.

Further, the ribbon cassette 19 is provided with a spring 64 that presses the - end of the feeding-side winding core 17 toward the other end, and this spring 64.
Since a brake member 65 is built in to apply a brake in response to the other end side of the feeding-side winding core 17 being pressed, it is possible to always apply back tension to the thermal transfer ribbon 16 with a simple structure. Therefore, wrinkles in the thermal transfer ribbon 16 can be eliminated, and sticking between the thermal transfer ribbon 16 and the paper p can be eliminated.

In addition, a gear 60 is attached to the winding core 18 of the ribbon cassette 19.
Since they are integrated, the space on the main body 1 side can be omitted, and the position of the thermal transfer ribbon 16 can be changed manually without touching the thermal transfer ribbon 16. Moreover, since the gear 60 protrudes in the axial direction from the winding-side storage portion 53 of the case 51, and the ribbon cassette 19 is inserted in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, the ribbon cassette 19
When an attempt is made to insert the cassette holder 15 into the cassette holder 15 from the take-up side accommodating portion 53 side, the gear 60 comes into contact with the guide side plate 68 of the cassette holder 15-, so that incorrect insertion can be prevented.

In addition, one ribbon cassette is easy to assemble because the feeding-side accommodating portion 52 and the winding-side accommodating portion 53 of the case 51 are each divided into two parts in the axial direction. Moreover, the feeding side storage section 52 and the winding side storage section 53 are each divided into two parts.
Since the bottles 55 are assembled by welding, the negative image of the thermal transfer ribbon 16 after use is not seen.

Furthermore, the protruding stripes 57 provided on both sides of the ribbon cassette 19
．． 57 is guided by the guide rail 70.degree. 70 of the holder 15, and the side part of the ribbon cassette 19 is pressed by the leaf spring 71, so that each ribbon cassette is securely held in the cassette holder 15 without wobbling. Furthermore, the stop (reference) position of the cassette holder 15 is determined by the stoppers 73, 73 of the lower frame 40. Therefore, the ribbon cassette 19 (thermal transfer ribbon 16) can be easily installed and positioned.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, there is provided a ribbon, a feeding-side winding core for feeding out the ribbon, a winding-side winding core for winding the ribbon fed from the feeding-side winding core, and the feeding-side winding core. A pressing member that presses one end toward the other end, a brake member that receives the other end of the feeding-side winding core pressed by the pressing member and applies a brake, and a case that houses these. Therefore, it has a simple structure and has excellent effects such as applying pack tension to the ribbon.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the feeding side storage section of the ribbon cassette, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing the image forming device, and FIG. 3 is the same device. 4 is a perspective view showing the upper unit in an open state; FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the ribbon cassette mounting operation; FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the ribbon cassette; 8 is a perspective view showing the brake member, FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the cassette holder, and FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the cassette holder. FIG. 11 is a side view showing the guide rail and leaf spring, FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the stopper of the lower frame, and FIG. 12 is a front view. 10... Thermal transfer ribbon, 17... Feeding side winding core, 18
... Winding side winding core, 19... Ribbon cassette, 51.
... Case, 60 ... Gear, 64 ... Pressing member (spring), 65 ... Brake member. Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Ribbon, a feeding-side winding core that feeds out this ribbon, a winding-side winding core that winds up the ribbon fed out from this feeding-side winding core, and one end of the feeding-side winding core to the other end. A ribbon cassette comprising: a pressing member that presses the core toward the feeder; a brake member that receives and applies a brake to the other end of the feeding-side core pressed by the pressing member; and a case that houses them. . (2) The ribbon cassette according to claim 1, wherein the take-up side winding core is integrally equipped with a gear that receives a driving force.